The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1887-01-20

capsized again, and three times upset and
was righted, and o line was thrown the
poor fellows, but their hands and arms
were frozen so they could not grasp it and
n great wave rolled over them, and they
went down, never 70 rise till the sea gives
ND its dead Appreciate that heroism and
self-sacrifice OF the brave fellows we all
can, and can we not appreciate the Christ
who put out IN q more biting cold and into
a more overwhelming surge TO bring US
out Of infinite peril into everlasting safety
The wave Of human hate rolled over Him
on one side, and the wave OF hellish fury
rolled over Him on the other side. oh, the
thickness Of the night and the thunder Of
the tempest into which Christ plunged for
our rescued
Come IN on that one narrow beam, the
beam of the cross. Let all else go and
cling to that Put that under you, and
with the earnestness of a swimmer strug-
Cling for his life put out for the shore.
There is a great warm fire Of welcome
already built, and already many, who were
as far out as you are, are standing in its
genial and Heavenly glow. The angels of
Gods rescue are wading out into the surf
TO clutch your hand, and they know how
exhausted you are, AMI all the redeemed
prodIgals of Heaven are on the bench with
new white robes TO clothe all those who
come in on broken pieces Of the ship.
My sympathies are for such all the moro
because | was naturally skeptcal, disposed
TO question every thing about this life and
the next and was in danger Of being furth-
cr out to sea than any of the two hundred
and sevcnty-six in the Mediterranean
breakers, and was sometimes the annoy
ance of my theological professor because
asked so many questions. But / came in
on plank. l knew Christ was the Saviour
of sinners, and that l was a sinner, and
got ashore, and l do not propose to go out
on that sea again. l have not for thir-
ty minutes discussed the controverted
points of theology in thirty years. And
during the rest of my life do not propose
to discuss them for thirty seconds.
I would rather in q mud scow, try TO
weather the worst cyclone that ever swept
up from the caribbean than risk my i'm
mortal soul in useless and perilous discus
sions in which some of my brethren in the
ministry are INDUCING. They remind me
of a company of sailors standing on Rams
gate pier head, from which the life-bOats
are usually launched, and coolly discussing
the different style Of oar-locks and how
deep boat ought TO set in the water, while
"a hurricane was i'll full blast and there
are three steamers crowded with pasSen-
gers going to pieces in the ofing. An old tar,
the muscles of his face working with nerv-
Gus excitement, cries out: This is no time
TO discuss such things. Man the life-boat.
Who will volunteer! Out with her into
the surf Pull my lads, pull for the wreck
Ha hal now we have them. Lift them in
and lay them down on the bottom of the
boat. Jack, you try to bring them to. Put
40 nd
and viii pull for the shore. God help
mel There! Landed! Huzza" When
there are 50 many struggling i'll the waves
OF sin and sorrow and wretchedness, let all
else 20 but salvation Tor time and salvation
forever.
l bethink myself that there are some
here whose opportunity or whose life is "a
mere wreck and they have only small
piece left. You started in your youth with
all sails set, and every thing promised a
grand voyage, but you have sailed in the
wrong direction or have foundered on a
rock You have only a fragment of time
left Then come in on that one plank.
"Some on broken pieces Of the ship"
You admit that you are all broken up,
one decade of your life gone by, two de-
cadas, three decades, four decades, or a
half century, perhaps three-quarters OF
century gone. Inc nOuf manu- anu tHS
minute hand of your clock of life are al
most parallel, and soon it will be twelve
and your day ended. Clear discouraged,
are youl l admit that it is a sad thing to
give all of your lives that are worth any
thing to sin and the devil and then at last
to make God a present of 1irSt-rato
corpse But the past you can not recover.
Get on board that old ship, you never will.
Have You only one more year left. one
more month, one more week, one more
day. one moro hour-come in on that. Per
haps if you get to Heaven God may let you
90 out on some great mission to some other
world, where you can somewhat atone Tor
your lack of service in this.
From many a death-bed l have seen tho
hands thrown up in deportation something
like this: 'My life has been wasted. had
good mental faculties, and fine social posi-
ton, and great opportunity, but through
Worldliness and great neglect all has gone
to waste save these few remaining hours.
| now accept Of Christ, and shall enter
Heaven through His mercy; but, alas
aasl that when / might have entered the
haven of eternal rest with a full cargo and
been greeted by the waving hands of null
titude in whose salvation l had borne a
blessed part, | must confess now enter the
harbor of Heaven on broken pieces OF the
ship"